Cada’s Poker and Sports Grill in Sterling Heights has voluntarily closed its doors while an investigation into its liquor license is under way, the second charity poker room in Macomb County to shut down in recent months.

Both the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and the Sterling Heights Police Department are investigating the poker room on Hayes Road near M-59, which apparently had been selling liquor without a license.

“Until more information regarding that status, charities are not being scheduled there,” Michigan Gaming Control Board Director Rick Kalm said in a written response to an inquiry submitted by The Macomb Daily.

The poker room is owned by Patrick Bernhardt of Washington Township and Jerry Cada of Shelby Township. Cada is the father of Joe Cada, the Shelby Township resident who won the 2009 World Series of Poker. Neither Bernhardt nor Jerry Cada could be reached for comment.

Advertisement

Cada’s, which opened in the former Roosevelt’s Bar & Grill, initially applied for a liquor license transfer in October 2011, according to LCC records. An investigation was completed, but the application was later amended in the summer of 2012. In September of last year, the file was “held for further commission consideration,” records show.

Sterling Heights City Clerk Walt Blessed said he recalls the City Council giving local approval for the transfer but the LCC did not.

On Oct. 17, 2012, the LCC scheduled the item for a commission meeting, but state records do not indicate if further action was taken. An LCC spokeswoman said she could not comment beyond what the records show.

However, the state gaming board said in a statement that there is an ongoing LCC investigation into Cada’s as “it appears they have no liquor license.” Sterling Heights police are also investigating, according to the gaming board. Sterling Heights police officials were not available for comment on Wednesday.

Cada’s is one of more than 70 charity poker rooms in Michigan that hosted what’s called “millionaire parties.” The tournaments are set up so the poker room workers handle the cards at the table, while volunteers from charities sell chips and cash them in when the players are done. Charity suppliers and game operators split 10 percent of the money wagered — known as the rake-off — while the remainder of the cash goes to the players.

Last year, millionaire parties generated in excess of $184 million, according to published reports.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration is making a number of changes to the industry, including an executive order placing the games under the jurisdiction of the gaming board instead of the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery.

About two weeks ago, in an effort to regulate the volume of charitable events, the gaming board notified charities requesting events that they can only hold three events simultaneously. A location can hold more on any one day as long as they have staggered times throughout the day. For example, they could hold three tournaments in the afternoon and three in the evening.

Another Macomb County charity gambling facility, Snookers Pool and Pub in Shelby Township, also shut down in December due to a pending gaming board probe.

Snookers owner Don Wawrzyniak of St. Clair County told The Macomb Daily that he has already acknowledged exceeding the state’s $15,000 limit on poker chip sales. He said Snookers had been holding up to nine games at the same time, when the state’s new regulations limited the games to three at a time.

However, the gaming board, in response to inquiries by The Macomb Daily, said the regulations went into effect after the suspension for Snookers was issued. Gaming board documents show the state alleges Snookers had a number of violations including employees were falsifying financial statements.

Snookers has no charity license but provides the location for the events.

Charities and suppliers are licensed and those licensees were asked to go to other locations while the Snookers probe was under way, gaming officials said. Snookers could have remained open as a bar/restaurant but chose to close, according to gaming board correspondence.

Thirteen qualified charities that have held events at Snookers have been cited by the Bureau of State Lottery for filing false financial statements, failing to maintain accurate records, documents show. Other licensees have engaged in illegal gambling or fraud, according to the documents.